Paula Suter, SeattleMember Since July 2008Artist Statement In 1983, I graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Int’l Studies. It was then that I picked up photography and traveled to North Africa as an exchange student. My travels have continued over the years along with my photography work which has survived the digital revolution and evolved into a minimalist style with an eye for color and strong graphic structure. A lot of my work has to do with an abstract or compositional study of pattern, line and color.

My Urban Graphic series is a graphic approach to urban street photography. I use my camera to collect digital sketches of urban life that express moments of clarity within a visually chaotic scene. For me they are visual haiku, distilled images that cut through the clutter and noise.

I choose to work with photographs because they make people see things that animation can’t reveal. Still images have basis in reality, but being suspended in time and space, they invite inquiry and become testaments of beauty and mystery. A well crafted photograph makes connection available to us in a single-frame that we can gaze into.

Currently I am based in the Pacific Northwest where I live on a small farm with my family and travel at every opportunity. I work in my portrait/fine art studio, experimenting with digital transfers to different materials such as wood, metal and tile. My work can also be viewed at the Indie Gallery in Poulsbo, Washington. Urban Graphic series is a graphic approach to urban street photography.